2019 Ford Ranger Raptor—or FX4 (Please Be a Mini-Raptor!)

Ford appears to be working on a special off-road Ranger.

What It Is: A new-generation Ford Ranger pickup wearing what appear to be wide fenders, beefy off-road tires, and lots of camouflage. The style of those wheels, and the seemingly shaved front bumper that raise this Ranger’s chin higher over potential obstacles, should look familiar to anyone who has seen the latest F-150 Raptor. We believe this Ranger prototype is a test mule for suspension pieces and body addenda that could make their way into a Raptor-emulating, off-road-focused Ranger model.

Why It Matters: Ford’s announcement that, at long last, it is bringing the Ranger back to its lineup in the United States after a seven-year hiatus is big news. It’s also predictable, given that nearly all of the Ranger’s competitors were recently redesigned and are splitting the spoils of resurgent consumer interest in mid-size pickups. This potential off-road Ranger would make sense, what with Toyota and Chevrolet now offering hard-core off-road versions of the Tacoma and Colorado, and now that Jeep has a Wrangler pickup on the way. A muscled-up, rock-ready Ranger would go head-to-head with the Tacoma TRD Pro and the hairy-chested Colorado ZR2, and it could leverage the passions of Ford truck fans ignited by the F-150 Raptor.

Platform: That the Ranger platform was developed by Ford of Australia for sales worldwide explains this prototype’s right-hand-drive configuration: It’s likely a Ranger built for a right-hand-drive market such as Thailand or Australia, to which Ford bolted a smattering of mini-Raptor parts for testing the effect of the widened stance, knobby tires, Raptor-style wheels, and those blistered fenders. The front control arms appear thicker than usual, and they’re visible beneath the cut-down front bumper that would seem to afford a greater approach angle than the stock bumper.

Powertrain: What isn’t yet apparent is for which off-road mission this Ranger is built—that would tell us more about what powertrains to expect in the special truck. For example, the F-150 Raptor is set up for high-speed dune running and Baja-style desert romps. Chevy’s Colorado ZR2, on the other hand, is more focused on rock-crawling like a Jeep Wrangler. The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro is somewhere in between. If Ford goes the mini-Raptor route, it’ll need to inject the Ranger with some power, perhaps using the 325-hp twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine available in the larger F-150. Should this Ranger be more of a rock-crawler, it could settle for a less powerful V-6 or a four-cylinder diesel engine, both expected to feature in the broader U.S. lineup, with greater emphasis on low-rpm torque delivery. In the latter case, this prototype could preview a comparatively tame FX4 off-road trim package like the one Ford offers on the F-150. You can probably guess which version we’d like to see between mini-Raptor and FX4.

Estimated Arrival and Price: Just as mid-size trucks have grown to within inches of full-size trucks’ key dimensions, so, too, have their prices. In full off-road trim, the Colorado and the Tacoma are roughly $40,000 rigs, and that’s where we’d expect this Ranger off-roader to land should it go on sale. If it does, expect to be able to buy one in late 2018.

The Best and Others to Consider

The Editors' Rating summarizes a vehicle's overall degree of excellence and is determined by our editors, who evaluate hundreds of vehicles every year and consider numerous factors both objective and subjective.

The Editors' Rating summarizes a vehicle's overall degree of excellence and is determined by our editors, who evaluate hundreds of vehicles every year and consider numerous factors both objective and subjective.

Price Starting at

$22,095

Compare

The GMC Canyon shares too much with its down-market twin, the Chevrolet Colorado, to be deemed upscale.

The Editors' Rating summarizes a vehicle's overall degree of excellence and is determined by our editors, who evaluate hundreds of vehicles every year and consider numerous factors both objective and subjective.

Price Starting at

$21,195

Compare

The clever and capable Colorado, available in three cab-and-bed configurations, offers nearly as much utility as full-size pickups—minus the lane-hogging size.